Discontinuing his Where Is The Idiot Today? blog after fastidiously posting over 2,500 daily items and photo(s) during the past seven years.
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The Idiot is continuing his 600-kilometer circumnavigation of Paris on the GR1 long-distance hiking trail and — as he trekked from Fontainebleau to Crécy-la-Chapelle southeast of the French capital — is strolling through countryside featuring enchanting forests, inviting chateaux and majestic medieval churches.
Although this is the region of Brie cheese, he still hasn’t seen a cow.
Here’s what you missed.
The Idiot concluded the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris today by completing the 50-kilometer hike around the perimeter of the city on the GR75 (GR stands for grand randonnée, or long-distance hike, and 75 is the designated number of the Paris region).
The final section of the walk, which was created as part of the French bid for the Olympics, went from Cité Universitaire in the southern part of the city to the Parc de la Villette, where the pleasant urban hike begins and ends.
Here’s a sampling of what The idiot saw during a walk that included destinations named for Ella Fitzgerald, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King.
One intriguing aspect of France’s bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics was the creation of a 50-kilometer hiking path around the perimeter of Paris
Known as the GR75 (GR stands for grand randonnée, or long-distance hike, and 75 is the designated number of the Paris region of the country), the pleasant urban walk zig-zags into picturesque neighborhoods, meanders through verdant parks, follows out-of-use train tracks, wanders through busy shopping areas, crosses canals and the Seine River, and features lots of charming churches and fascinating architecture.
Here’s a sampling of what The idiot saw between Parc de la Villette, where the GR75 begins, and Cité Universitaire in the southern part of the city.
What did The Idiot do after his swim in the Seine River on July 4 went viral?
There was so much publicity, from French media and “India Today” to “The New Yorker” and “The Wall Street Journal,” that The Idiot fled to the south of France and the Mediterranean Sea for a break before the Paris mayor unlocks thousands of port-a-potties through the city on July 26 to inaugurate the Summer Olympics.
The Idiot celebrated American Independence Day on July 4th by taking a swim in the Seine River in Paris to insure it will be safe for triathletes during the upcoming Summer Olympics.
Why?
Because French President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo have so far failed to deliver on their promise to take the plunge and guarantee that a much-touted river clean-up has made the Seine safe for swimmers.
The Idiot returned to the exact spot where he last swam in the Seine 48 years ago for a cover story in “The Paris Metro” magazine.
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